Because Andrew and Cherie are Santos GOLD…

“If I go out there and make a fool of myself, then it certainly feels easier for other people to do the same, to take risks, which I think is part of the appeal.” The lectures, in other words, are best understood as an extension of the role he hopes the club plays in New York. “I’m kind of like a jester, you know?” he says. “I absorb all the fears and negative energy and awkwardness people have. My goal is to create the best feel-good feeling in the world and bring it to as many places as possible.”

With Santos, he explains, the idea is to create a relentlessly positive energy that specifically counters much of New York nightlife and maybe even the current mood of the country. “The club is about making people feel good about themselves. When they leave, they feel good—they got in, they had fun, they were cool. You can get a lot of power from making people feel bad, but I don’t know that it pays off in the end.”